This article on the ARRL website summarizes quite well the situation with ham radio – and radio in general. Although it is exciting to be part of a club of radio enthusiasts around the world, one must question whether the licensing system on its own is a hindrance both to freedom and innovation. The basic debate has these two sides:…
Tag: ham radio
Should Amateur (Ham) Radio Operators Submit to Distracted Driving Laws?
Should ham radio operators be treated as cell phone users and ticked for using their radios in the car? ++ SHORT VERSION ++ No. They shouldn’t. =================== ++ EXTENDED VERSION ++ Unlike cell phones, radios are simple devices with big buttons. While looking at the road, you grab this big dangling mic thing (think truck driver saying “breaker breaker…
How to Remove or Delete the Tone for Repeater Use in Baofeng UV-5R
This is part of a series of posts that hopefully will save people a bunch of time. How to Delete or Remove the Tone for Repeater Use in Baofeng UV-5R Important note: if you wait more than 9 seconds between any step below it will automatically go back to home screen and you have to start again, so work those…
How to Set the Tone for Repeater Use in Baofeng UV-5R
This is part of a series of posts that hopefully will save people a bunch of time. How to Set the Tone for Repeater Use in Baofeng UV-5R Important note: if you wait more than 9 seconds between any step below it will automatically go back to home screen and you have to start again, so work those fingers, baby!…
How to Set the Plus/Minus Offset Duplex Setting for Repeater Use in Baofeng UV-5R
This is part of a series of posts that hopefully will save people a bunch of time. How to Set the Plus/Minus (+/-) Offset Duplex for Repeater Use in Baofeng UV-5R Important note: if you wait more than 9 seconds between any step below it will automatically go back to home screen and you have to start again, so work…
How to Quickly Manually Program a Frequency in Baofeng UV-5R
This will be a series of posts that hopefully will save people a bunch of time. How to Simply Manually Punch in a Frequency push VFO/MR orange button to make sure it’s in ‘frequency mode’, not in ‘channel mode’. If you have the voice feature on (on by default) the girl will tell you which mode you are in. …
Morse Code in Music
As a licensed and active amateur radio operator, I started learning morse code a few months back. My reasoning is that it’s like audible brail – why would I not want to learn that? If I was fluent at it I could communicate effectively without words… Anyway, my buddy Joe found this video on youtube which actually caught me off…
Sound problem with Qtel (open source Echolink) in Ubuntu 14.04
If you are looking to get set up Echolink on your shiny new Ubuntu 14.04 machine, be sure to read the how to article I wrote before. However, even after having such a formidable victory and feeling waves of joy when the repeater list finally populated Qtel on my Trusty Tahr, I had a less-than-raring experience of not being able…
Amateur (Ham) Radio: No, Officer, I won’t Pay That ‘Use of Electronic Device Ticket’ This Time
I’m sick of it. I have gotten 2 violation tickets for allegedly using an electronic device while driving. The first time I was at a red light and I moved my cell phone from my dash (it was sliding around), checked the time on the phone’s clock, and put it on my passenger seat. The officer behind not only pulls…
The End of Geek
A friend of mine sent out an email to people he knew and respected about how he was invited to speak at a well known event with the word ‘geek’ in the title. It was apparently an honour. The reply-all response to the email by a gentleman whom I respect greatly caught me off guard and really got me thinking…